Mages of Winterhold
by Davoid123
Summary: [1]despite the popular belief, even nords have places for knowledge and learning. even though they don't trust it one bit. the following is the journal of a mage during the era of the Dragonborn, telling us the tales of what came to be known as the Dominion's first assault on Skyrim. [in progress, estimated time until next update: N/A]
1. Prologue

it took the dominion less than a day to choose the best elf for the job.

They needed an operative who would stay where he was supposed to, spy in the daylight, and be discreet about his real mission.

Most high elves weren't good at discretion, Most wood elves weren't good at magic, and most Khajiit were not allowed in city limits.

Therefore, when the first emissary of The Aldmeri Dominion received the missive from Supreme Ambassador herself, she knew the exact man for the job.

Ancano, a crafty Thalmor operative was not only quite an expert in the clever craft, he was also, to be honest, blunt in his approach. So blunt, in fact, that no one who opposed him ever cared to think if he is in fact, doing anything underhanded. His approach, while a bit…unorthodox…in the general trainings of the Thalmor operatives, had never failed.

And also, First emissary was a bit peeved at him. perhaps a few years in the ice fields would do him good.

When Agent Ancano of the Aldmeri Dominion entered her office, he was not amused.

"First Emissary, why have you summoned me?" said the elf in his aristocratic voice.

The first emissary, a female elf from an ancient line of Dominion leaders, said "you have a new mission, operative."

The other elf did not reply, or act in any manner. So Elenwen smiled, and continued "you are to be placed in the college of winterhold, the only place of _study_ this icy rock has to offer. Stay there and report to us if you find anything important."

Ancano raised an eyebrow. "Skyrim has a College?" he said. The local Nords' distrust of magic was not unknown to him. the other elf smiled coldly, "if you had ever paid attention in your history lessons, you would know that despite the hatred of Magic these…people...are prone to show, there _is_ in fact an ancient college in this land. The college, while not really worthy of its name nowadays, was built by Shalidor, one of the few legendary non-mer mages ever known"

Ancano, who was not really into reading books, despite being a mage, said "and what was he, Breton?" "no, strangely, he was a Nord. Or actually an Atmoran, I'm not quite sure, and the books in the guild just said he was one of the children of the sky." She said, "you are to travel to this so called college as the Dominion's Adviser to their Arch-Mage, a Dunmer known as Savos Aren. Gather all knowledge you can and remain there until you receive a new objective. Auri-El Guide you"

The operative tried to complain, or more professionally, protest, but he failed.  
he couldn't find a real logical reason for him _not_ to be in winterhold, and sure enough, bailing was out since it would, at best, be a proof to others that he was a coward, or a bad mage.

He shrugged, said "your will is done, first emissary. for the Dominion" and left.

A month later, the elf, with no other escort with him but a squad of five Altmer soldiers reached the city of winterhold.

If this was what went for city, there was no wonder these people were so backwards in tradition. They had it all _wrong_.

A few wooden huts with less than a hundred Nords in them walked around, not even working. Not that there was work to be found.

The only place of interest in the entire frozen rock was a castle in the sky. The building was built on a reverse Pyramid that hovered in the sky, connected to _nothing._ No wonder the College had survived the great collapse. Though ' _nothing_ ' was a bit of exaggerating.

Unlike most colleges Ancano had seen all around Tamriel, this one had a door instead of a teleporting rune. Or more accurately, it had a bridge.

He said to the other elves "alright, you may leave. Return to the embassy, and _try_ not to antagonize the locals until the petty skirmish starts" and easily dismissed them, then he walked to the bridge, it seemed like no one even guarded the bridge. Even a rag-tag group of Nordic savages could break into that…

As he was walking, most locals looked at him and looked away in disdain. A few even scoffed. But he paid no attention, all that he had to do was to get to a warm place, and all would be well again.

As soon as he put a foot on the bridge, everything changed. He heard A sound of a illusion spell wearing off, and a woman was in front of him. more accurately, a female Altmer in the local adept robes.

She said "HALT!"

The reaction was involuntary. Ancano stopped where he stood and saluted, as if it was a sentry saying that. Well, he supposed the elf actually _was_ a sentry.

"the way is dangerous, and the gate will not open. You shall not gain entry" she said in a firm voice, even though her face looked like she'd said it a thousand times ago.

Ancano raised an eyebrow, and handed her the letter from lady Elenwen herself.

The letter with the Thalmor Stamp of Approval and imperial seal made the elf suspicious, and right after reading it, she made a disgusted face, and said "alright, the letter is…acceptable, even if the reasoning behind it doesn't seem to be. Follow me, I'll lead you to the arch mage"

And started walking to the college.

When they reached, she opened the gate, and said "the Arch mage is in his quarters, the left door in the hall of elements"

And as the ambitious Thalmor walked to the hall, clearly dismissing her, she said meekly, "welcome to the College of Winterhold"

 **End of Chapter 0, prologue to Mages of Winterhold.**


	2. Welcome aboard

**Mages of Winterhold**

By Davoid123

* * *

After two days of travelling, I finally reached the city of Winterhold. And it was pathetic.

Well, compared to Windhelm, it was not a city, but a village. A village without much people in it.

While Windhelm had stone walls, a majestic castle and an actual community, Winterhold was nothing more than a bunch of wooden huts in a stone road, connecting the wild snowy mountain and the great castle in the sky.

I was not impressed, but alas, I was not there for getting impressed, without talking to the people of the 'city', I took the road to the end of it, where a bridge connected the city to a reverse pyramid floating in the sky, on the ice fields of the sea of ghosts.

I took a step forward, and then another, until I reached the summit of a bridge.

" **HALT**!" I heard. And stopped immediately, an elf was standing in front of me, an elf in strange grey robes of an expert mage. She said "the way is dangerous, the path tricky, and the gate will not open. You shall not gain entry" said the female elf in front of me in a stiff voice, as if she'd said that a thousand times and was _really_ tired of saying it again.

I shrugged, "who are you?"

"I am here to assist those seeking the wisdom of the college" she said in a softer voice, and continued "and if in the process, my presence helps to deter those who might seek to do harm, so be it"

Then her voice got hard again, "the more important question is, why are _you_ here?"

 _Why was I there?_ Was an important question, I could answer with 'I wanna learn magic', but I doubt the woman would appreciate it. I know _I_ wouldn't.

But what was I looking for in the college? What was _I_ looking for in magic?

After an internal debate of two minutes, I replied "I am to learn to bend the elements themselves to my will"

She smiled, "an honest answer, and a worthy one. That power certainly exists, and there are those in the college who can help you find it, or hone it"

"it would seem the college has what you seek" she said, "the question now is what _you_ can offer the college. Not just everyone is allowed inside, those wishing to enter need to show _some_ degree of skill with magic. A small test, if you will"

 _a small test?_ I thought, she'd probably ask me to cast a spell for her, or maybe answer a few questions of arcane practice. I knew she wouldn't do that, the city was _cold_ , and while _I_ , a cold blooded argonian could stand the cold, no elf could, even in the wool robes of a mage.

She said "by most accounts, the opposite of a destruction mage is a restoration mage, or a healer. So if you want to learn how to _destroy_ , you'll need to heal as well." She smiled "the first spell any restoration mage learn is to heal a scrape. More accurately, it's called **Healing Hands**. Do you know it?"

Well, the only spells I knew were flames and self-healing, none of which possible to use on others for healing.

I shook my head, "I'm here to learn. I don't know it yet."

She nodded, "not surprising, most apprentices who enter are not better than that. I can teach that to you, for a small fee."

I paid her from my pouch, and she handed me a tome. _Tome on healing hands_ was written on it, I read it, and ten minutes later, I was pretty sure I knew how to cast the spell.

"this is my first time, so please don't laugh if it doesn't work" I said, and she, in the most serious voice she could, say "no one laughs at a mage who's about to learn. You should learn not to as well"

With that, I was a bit more confident, I used the symbol of restoration, and the warm, yellow aura of restoration magic surrounded my hand. I pointed the hand at the elf, and willed my Magicka to move towards her, using it to heal. Soon enough, a ray of yellow light moved from my hand towards her, and the yellow light of restoration magic twirled around her, her paleness from the cold slowly leaving.

Until, you know, I ran out of Magicka.

She nodded at me, "well done indeed, I think you'll make a superb addition to the college."

And after she scribed something on a piece of paper, she reached to shake my hand, "welcome, apprentice"

Well, actually I wasn't an apprentice yet. I knew two, well now three, spells, and all of them were in novice degree. But I didn't correct her.

She started walking to the bridge, and said "I'll lead you across the bridge, once you're inside, speak with Mirabelle Ervine, our master wizard. She'll want to see you."

Then she set off across the bridge, with me trailing along behind. The bridge took us across the chasm, and let me tell you, it was _not_ in good condition. Several pieces of it had fallen away, and it wasn't really surprising, nothing was supporting it but the old magic of some Nordic Mage back in the second Era.

We finally made it to the end of the bridge, in front of the gate, connecting the bridge to the courtyard of the college. We walked around the statue of a mage, who the female altmer leading me explained to be Shalidor, the founder of College, and pretty much the entire Winterhold.

At a large set of doors, a Female Breton was talking to a Male altmer in robes of Black and gold. From what I heard, she wasn't really enjoying it.

"Might I remind you that it is by the will of the Aldmeri Dominion that this school is allowed to remain?" said the elf, though he was probably bluffing, everyone knew the College didn't meddle into the Politics, and was pretty much a province of tamriel for itself.

"and might I remind you, Ancano, that you are a guest here, and it is only by the will of the Arch-Mage that you are allowed to remain _here_ in the college?" replied the female Breton. The female elf near me whispered "That's Mirabelle Ervine. She'll want to meet you, so give her the note as soon as you can. Crap, she's not in a good mood. I better get back. Good luck" and left before any of the others could notice her.

But she failed. the female Breton returned to us, and raised an eyebrow, "Ah, Faralda. Who's this with you? a new student?"

"Yes, master wizard. This is" Faralda turned to me, "oh, I never got your name. who are you again?"

I shrugged, "I'm Magnus Aurelius. Pleased to meet you."

The male Altmer, who I guess was part of the Aldmeri Dominion, looked at me with disdain. A look I'd only seen on the bastard nord who generally comes to give us our money after buying merchandice, and never does it anyway.

Bastard.

He said "what's this? You're coming to _skyrim_ to learn magic?" he looked at me mockingly, before glaring at Mirabelle, "how can you even consider yourself an Altmer?"

Well, wasn't _he_ pleasant.

Fortunately, none of the college staff answered him, and he left after shaking his head in contempt.

"well, sorry about that" said Mirabelle, "welcome to the college of Winterhold. Please, allow me to give you a quick tour of our facility"

"I'd be thankful"

"alright. We are in front of the Hall of Elements" she pointed at the door in front of us, "that's where we have the lessons and lectures, being present is mandatory until you reach the level of an adept mage of your chosen school" then she raised an eyebrow, "oh you never told me, what _is_ your chosen school? Perhaps it _is_ in the note in your hand?"

I looked at the piece of paper Faralda had handed me, and shrugged, before giving her the note. "hmm. Destruction school. Well, you'll have to work with Faralda. After you become an apprentice. Anyway, as I was saying, inside, on the second floor is the Arcanaeum. Our Library. On the Third floor is the Arch-Mage's Quarters. You'll meet him shortly. Now follow me."

I followed her across the courtyard to a tower on the southwest side of the courtyard, near to gates. "this is the Hall of Attainment, where the newer members of the college are quartered. Follow me inside, there may be other people working on projects"

We entered the hall, to find about ten small rooms around a well of magicka. She pointed at one of the rooms, "this is where you'll be staying while you're at the college. Please change to your robes, wearing them is mandatory while on college grounds, when you're done, meet me outside of the hall, I'll be waiting"

Inside the room, which had no door, was a closet, a desk with a few soul gems and ingredients on it, a chair, a bookshelf almost empty if not for two or three books, and a bed.

On the bed were the robes I had to wear. White wool robes with black trimmings, wool gloves, wool boots and a hood that I had to connect to the robes.

After finally wearing the clothes, I could feel that my Magicka was full again, and I could cast more spells before it ran out. The robes had enchantments.

I walked out of the hall of attainment, which was –unlike what Mirabelle had said- empty.

She noticed me, "oh, you're here. You took your sweet time." Pointing at a similar tower in front of me, she said "that is the hall of Countenance, where the master wizards rest. You can find most of them in the Hall of elements during the day, but you can find them in their own quarters there, if need be. Now, let us return to the Hall of elements, so you can join your peers. I believe that Master Phinis is teaching today"

We returned to the hall, and went inside, and after walking around a blue beam of Magicka, we came upon a group of people wearing similar robes to mine, obviously my peers, who were arguing with an old Breton master wizard

"join them, welcome aboard, apprentice."

As I got closer, I heard 'master Phinis' Talk, "Alright, people. This is your first conjuration lesson, isn't it?" he asked.

The three nodded, and he said "good. So I'm going to start with the obvious. Listen up- "he saw me, "well met. Are you new?" he asked, and the three apprentices looked at me.

One was a feline looking fellow, a _Khajiit_ , another a female Dunmer and the last a nord. Well, isn't that surprising.

"yes, Master Phinis. I joined just about ten minutes ago"

"interesting, but no matter, you're right in time for the first lesson of the day. listen up." He said, and when I joined the other apprentices, he said "What you'll learn from me is one of the five schools of Magic. Conjuration is a bit…different…than the other schools. You see, in most others, you either do something to _others_ , or you try to do something to yourself, all of them people from our world, Nirn. In a bigger scale, Mundus. in Conjuration, However, you have to control a being from _another realm._ "

We looked at him, and even though one of us was looking a bit too enthusiastic, all of us were paying attention.

"yes, folks. With Conjurtion, you either control a soul from the _soul Cairn_ , or a daedra from a realm of Oblivion. You can see why that would be dangerous, can't you?" he asked, but that was rhetorical, he continued "yes. It can be dangerous, your summoned creature might turn on you, it might forget its mission, it might even ripple in the universal threads of life. And we don't want that. So the first thing you learn is to _not_ trust a bound creature completely. Most of them aren't sentient, and those that are see all mortals as mud under their boots. But alas, all this won't be proven to you until you see why it can be dangerous, and I assure you, if you're not careful enough, you'll see it, and might not live to regret it."

With that happy note, he said "Conjuration has two branches: Summoning, and reviving. One controls creature from oblivion, the other bounds a soul to a lifeless body, making it sentient for a definite amount of time. be warned _Reviving_ is not the same as Necromancy. That is another branch, and one that is usually frowned upon my non-mage societies. Our first lesson is the Novice spell of Summoning, **Summon Familiar** "

Then, he handed us each a Tome, _Tome on Summoning Familiars_ , and said "now, study these books, and return to me when you learn to summon a familiar." He stopped, "in case you haven't seen a familiar, this is what it _should_ look like"

And he raised a hand, glowing with the bluish hue that I later learned belongs to the school of conjuration, and gestured at the floor in front of us. A blue sphere appeared in the place he'd gestured. "that is a small portal to Oblivion, where most of what you conjure get to Nirn from" and from the portal to oblivion, came out a prowling wolf.

Except it was huger, and quite blue in color. The wolf looked at us, sniffed the air, and then turned to Phinis, who waved his hand dismissively, "that is a wolf familiar. The most common form of a Familiar, from the hunting fields of Hircine. Now, carry on. Class is dismissed, return two days from now, on this time, and I expect to see all of you knowing how to cast the spell"

And with that, he left us and went to the Arcanaeum.

* * *

 **End of C1**

 **A.N: hello there, dear readers.  
this is my second TES fanfiction, and right now it's about, as you might've guessed by now, The College of Winterhold.**

 **You see, there are a few things in TES games I don't really like, one is that the protagonist (Nerevarine, HoC, Dragonborn) can join the important factions in the province you're playing in, and they will, inevitably, become the leader of the said faction.**

 **The Nerevarine, if he chooses to join them, becomes Arch mage of the mages guild, master of Fighter's guild, and Guildmaster of Morag tong.**

 **The HoC (or as I like to call him, the gate walker), if he chooses to join them, becomes the Listener, the Grey Fox, the Arch-Mage and Guildmaster, as well as grand champion of the arena**

 **The Dragonborn becomes the Arch-mage, Listener, Nightingale and Guildmaster, and the Harbinger.**

 **That is, in my opinion, STUPID. One guy, no matter how powerful, doesn't become the leader of that many factions, and they sure as hell can't be a Legate** _ **and**_ **kill the Emperor at the same time. I don't care, if I'd read it in a story, I'd thought it was one of those 'harry becomes head of potter-black-gryffindor-slytherin-ravenclaw-hufflepuff-perverell-blahblahblah and the master of death and blah', which is the most moronic thing that ever happened in a story.**

 **Therefore, in my head canon, in Tamriel's history, there sure as hell has been a listener, a nightingale guild master and an Arch-mage at the same time as the Dovahkiin, but they weren't the same guy.**

 **Another one is that** _ **how the fuck can you just learn a master spell by opening a book?**_ **So in my head canon, that actually takes some time. Same goes for the skill-books that you open and boom, skill increased.**

 **Please review. F &F are appreciated as well.**

 **Davoid, signing off**


	3. Becoming an Apprentice

Mages of Winterhold

Chapter two: Becoming an apprentice

* * *

It took me three hours to understand I had no clue about the school of Conjuration.

When I looked around, it seemed it hadn't taken that long for the Khajiit and the Nord to understand _they_ didn't have a clue in it. the Elf on the other hand, seemed to be at her element, the purple aura of Conjuration school surrounding her hand.

Maybe studying with the others could help me. I got closer to the other two clueless apprentices, the Khajiit was looking at the Dunmer with envy, "J'zargo doesn't believe this. How did she learn that spell that fast?" "maybe J'zargo could ask her himself!" answered the Nord with a bit of frustration, but then looked at me, and seemed a bit relieved that I wasn't summoning yet. He rose and said "oh, it's you. are you the new apprentice?" I nodded, "sorry if I look a bit disappointed, I was hoping to see another nord around, but the only other Nord here is Toldfir, and he doesn't really count. Nice to meet you" the Khajiit, who I guess his name was J'zargo, rose as well, "J'zargo greets you, High Elf. Do you know any Expert spells in destruction school?" at my confused face, Onmund laughed, "oh, he's just a bit of a braggart like that. Don't worry, none of us know any spell higher than novice level, well apart from Brelyna anyway. She had a bit of training before coming here." then he said, "so, have you learned the spell yet?"

I shook my head, he said "great. J'zargo and me couldn't cast it either. Let's work together. It might help"

 _J'zargo and_ I, I corrected in my head, but didn't say it out loud. Most people don't like others pointing their mistakes. Not having any idea on what to do, I agreed. Fortunately, J'zargo knew a bit about the runes on the pages, having studied Daedric before, and Onmund was a bit creative on how to tap into the wells in college.

After about three hours of study, I finally managed to open a small portal, and a blue wolf like the one Phinis had shown us came out of the portal, howling quietly.

I grinned, looking back at the other two, who had managed to cast the spells as well. That was when Brelyna came to us, "so. You finally managed to summon one as well?"

I turned back. The female Elf didn't look arrogant, but a bit insecure. She said "well, great. I see you _also_ met the other two apprentices. I'm Brelyna," she raised her hand and reached for a handshake, "nice to meet you"

* * *

The next month passed quickly, every day, for five days of the week, we had practical lessons from each of the trainers in the morning, and theory lessons (which was college official expression for reading books) in the afternoon. Loredas was the free day, and every Sundas we had a lecture from one of the master trainers.

By the end of the month, I, at least, knew who was who.

Onmund and J'zargo were novices in destruction magic, like me. Onmund was a nord, but unlike most Nords, he was not a brute, not one to jump heads first into battle, but not one to back out first either. J'zargo was, on the other hand, a show off, and proud of it. he was the one to brag after he learned a spell first, or arrived at the hall of element first, or arrive at the hall of attainment first, or basically do anything first. He was a bit insensitive at the times too, but it was obvious it wasn't his intention. That didn't help me trying to like her better either.

Brelyna, on the other hand, was an apprentice in Conjuration. Coming from a long line of Telvanni mages, she'd travelled to Winterhold, basically for catching some air. of course she was _looking_ for another master Conjurer, but Falion wasn't living in the college, but in the marches. That hadn't stopped her though. Unfortunately, her past training as a mage back home had only made the natural Elven Arrogance worse. she wasn't one to take care about how others felt, and her actions showed it. a veiled insult, bragging about her natural superiority in magic, even commenting about Skyrim being inferior to Morrowind, besides the fact that she was my best source of I needed help in Conjuration, I couldn't stand her.

And it took me a whole month to finally reach the Apprentice level in Destruction.

The morning of Morndas, I had Destruction training with Faralda.

When I arrived in the Hall of Elements at exactly 10 in the morning, one minute later than the other three, Faralda said "Hello. How nice of you to finally join us."

I shrugged sheepishly, and she said "Alright. This is your last lesson with me here" we made looks of surprise and in J'zargo's case hurt. She continued, "as a novice mage. I'll teach you the last spell of Novice Destruction. And none of you will leave until you've _all_ mastered it."

Then she said "this time, you won't get a tome on it. so listen up and pay attention.

"Destruction has three branches. Four if you include the leach variety spells, but I'll leave that for later. Each of these branches have their own advantages and disadvantages. Fire magic hurts a man double the times of what you cast. Frost exhausts them as it hurts them. But when fighting a mage, none of those will help you. what you'll need is _shock._ Since it exhausts the magicka in your body, as well as hurting you. a well-placed Shock spell can destroy an enemy before a fight starts. As a novice, the only shock spell you can learn is _sparks_. Do you understand?"

When the three of us nodded, she continued "casting any shock spell has three main steps. One: you summon the aura of Destruction magic. A purple aura that is generally connected to leach spells. Then you use it to summon the aura of Shock. Like this" she raised her hand at the magical well in front of us. Her hand had a purple hue around it. she said "This is the Aura of a leach spell. You must know, the only way to know what an enemy is going to cast is from the aura they've summoned. Right now, if I casted a spell to one of you, it would act like a poison to you, and a healing potion to me. slowly depleting your life force and healing me in the process. but, you can't learn a spell like that in college. And there is only one spell of Leach variety you can find in Skyrim, and you're be lucky you can't cast it" J'zargo asked "why? Surely such a spell is useful to all" Faralda snapped at him "because it is a spell that comes as a side effect of _Sanguinaire Vampiris,_ and is activated as a born ability, after the disease has its complete effect. Do you want to be a Vampire, J'zargo?"

The Khajiit shook his head meekly, and Faralda continued, "The only way to escape one of these is to duck, or cast a _strong_ ward. Other than that, you're dead." Then the hue changed into a darker shade of purple, and she said "This, is the aura of Shock magic. The last aura you'll need to summon."

When she stopped using the aura, she said "to summon it, you need to do what you did for summoning the aura of Frost magic, only summon Shock instead!"

With that helpful note, she waited for us.

After ten minutes, Onmund managed to do it. two minutes after him, I did as well. J'zargo, a bit disappointed at that, managed after me. and Brelyna did it last, shrugging as she said "Destruction isn't my strongest suit"

Faralda nodded in appreciation, and said "good. Now that you can summon shock magic, all that remains is to focus it in the manner we want. And what we want, is sparks. Like this"

A turret of sparks moved out of her hands towards the magicka well, and she said "it's like casting flames, or frostbite."

I understood what she meant. To cast flames, I summoned the aura of fire magic, and then imagined it to be casted in flames. Since I had seen the flames, I had no problem imagining it. now that I know what sparks looked like, doing the same couldn't be that hard.

And it wasn't that hard. In a matter of a minute, I could cast the sparks.

Faralda looked at me, and said "good. Now you've perfected all your novice spells. Here, take this to Mirabelle Ervine in the Hall of countenance. She'll know what to do"

And gave me a note with the college seal on it.

I walked out of the hall of Elements, and went to the only hall I hadn't entered yet.

Inside was almost empty, most of the masters either in the Arcanaeum or in the hall of elements. But on the second floor, one of the rooms wasn't empty. The Breton who'd gave me the tour of the college was there. She looked at me, and said "yes, is there anything I can help you with?"

I gave her the note and said "Trainer Faralda asked me to give it to you" she accepted to note, and broke the seal, reading it. then she said "huh. I have to test you. can you cast all the novice destruction spells?" I nodded, not knowing where this was going.

She said "alright then" she rose from her seat, and walked out of her room, waving for me to follow her, when we were out of the Hall of Elements, she said "well. Then cast them"

She summoned the aura of Alteration magic (something I'd only seen Master Todflir do, he'd never taught us anything, only blabbing about 'safety first') and casted a ward. A defense spell capable of blocking magic.

I summoned the aura of flame, and began casting.

When I ran out of magicka, she said "good. You know flames. Now frostbite."

When my magicka had refilled again, I summoned the aura of Frost, and casted frostbite until, once again, I ran out of magicka.

She said "now Sparks. Come on, I have work to do"

When I had run out of magicka once again, she said "well, I guess a congratulation is in order. You just became an apprentice in Destruction magic. your new robes are on your bed, and I think there is a new bookshelf in your room now. After you change, ask the Master of Arcanaeum for theoretical books on Destruction for your level, I think there are a few tricks you can learn about destruction that can come in handy."

Just like that, I had become an apprentice in destruction school. Of course Onmund, Brelyna, and J'zargo became apprentices a few minutes after me, but the fact that I was an apprentice in a month was too good for me to be disappointed about that.

And life seemed to be normal for me in the college, until the day Todflir decided to teach us some magic.

* * *

 **End of C2**

 **A.N: and the second chapter is done**

 **In this chapter, you can see some of my head canons about magic in Skyrim. One is that you don't** _ **just**_ **reach a new level if you can cast the spells in that level, you have to** _ **actually**_ **take a test, and the college (who seems to be the only standard for magic in Skyrim) gives you the title of apprentice/adept/expert/master.**

 **Another is that different schools of magic (and in specifics, different branches in a school) have an aura (the light in your hand when you've equipped magic and are in attack mode in 1** **st** **person), which is a way for a mage to predict what an enemy is about to do (and then scatter, or use a ward)**

 **Another head-canon of mine is that normal people (you know, the ones who don't magically learn new methods in different skills by just pointing to stars in the sky) can do what the dragonborn does, it just takes time for them to** _ **actually**_ **hone their skills (I.E dual enchantment, or dual-casting, or even new methods to use a weapon)**

 **So, in the college, there are actually** _ **books**_ **about new techniques in magic (I.E incinerate, or dual-casting), and you can read them when you have the sufficient skill (which, as said, is decided by the college). Of course, not the same can be said for the rogue mages around the land.**

 **I think that is all. We're about to begin the questline in the next chapter**

 **Davoid, signing off**


	4. Under Saarthal

Mages of Winterhold

Chapter three: Under Saarthal

* * *

Halfway through the next month, I had a _very_ surprising day.

When I entered the Hall of Elements in the third Fredas of Sun's Height, there was, as usual, an argument between Todflir and the other three.

"The first thing you need to understand about magic is that magic, above anything else, is, by its very nature, extremely volatile and dangerous. Unless you can control it, it can and will destroy you"

I sighed. That was something he always said at the beginning of his class, and then he'd ask us to go read something and left. This time it was different.

Brelyna said "sir. I think we all understand that fairly well. We wouldn't be here this long if we couldn't control our magic"

"Of course, my dear. Of course" Todflir said with a hint of annoyance, "you all certainly possess some inherent natural ability. That much is not being questioned. What I'm talking about is true control. Mastery of magic. it takes years, if not decades, of practice and study"

I bit my tongue, trying not to snap at him, J'zargo didn't do that, "then what are we waiting for? let's get started. It's been _two_ moon cycles and we've still haven't learned a spell in Alteration. Are you going to teach us something?"

"Please, Please!" Todflir cried, appearing to lose his patience, "that is exactly what I'm talking about. Eagerness must be tempered with caution, or else disaster is inevitable. We must first talk about the very basics –the fundementals of magic, and then we can get on with beginning to master it. I must teach you how to control your powers first, and then we can practice!"

J'zargo said "but you haven't taught this one anything!"

Onmund couldn't hold back any longer, and said "he's right. We have reached apprentice level in all schools of magic except for Alteration. Because you don't teach us anything. You've no idea what _any of us_ are capable of. Why not give us a chance to show you what can we do?"

Todflir finally surrendered, but then turned around, to see me not saying anything. For a last try, he said "you have been quiet so far. What do _you_ think we should do?"

I shrugged, and said with as much politeness as I could "I think we should learn something practical"

"very well. we are _all_ here to learn practical concepts. There is no question about that. I just need to be sure I can trust you all to use your powers wisely and carefully."

Onmund was really tired of this shit, "well, we're all new at this school, right? Let's just give it a chance. What's the worst that could happen?"

And he finally began teaching us something practical, or at least some useful theory.

"Alteration magic is one of the five main branches of standard magic. in Alteration, a mage tries to change reality around him. he tries to make the very nature do something it normally doesn't. the first thing about Alteration magic is that, while seeming to be useless, it never is. the first thing you'll learn is a ward. Wards are defensive barriers that can deflect incoming magical projectiles, like missile type spells or turret spells. This is a tome on a basic ward, read it, and when you've perfected it, we can see to test it."

And handed us a _Tome on Lesser Wards_. After an hour, i finally managed to perfect my ward, and said "I did it"

"exelent. Now then," Todflir said "please stand over there, apprentice. Everyone else, stand to the side"

I went over the place he'd pointed to, and turned to face him.

"Alright," he said, "Cast your ward. For as long as you can, and I'll launch a missile spell at you"

I did so. The rippling wall of energy formed in front of me, and Todflir summoned the aura of Fire magic, and said "This, I hope you know, is a Firebolt. The first ever spell you learn in Apprentice Destruction magic" and I knew it. I could cast it, but I'd never been hit with it."

He raised his hand towards me, and launched a fireball at me. but my Ward deflected the bolt, making it hit the ground in front of us instead.

"Exelent, apprentice. Anyone else?"

After all of us were tested, and successfully deflected the Bolt of fire in front of us (J'zargo took two tries, and Brelyna three), Todflir said "Excelent. Now, you will practice these spells until you've all perfected it. a perfect Lesser Ward can deflect a firebolt, or missle spell of the same level."

Everyone was sighing in relief, _he's finally teaches us something_ , then he continued "There is something else for the entire class to do. Assemble at the courtyard tomorrow before dawn, and pack for a travel. We're going on a field trip"

With that note, he left the class, and sat on one of the benches far from us. The four of us split into pairs for practicing, Onmund wishing to pair with me, as J'zargo seemed a bit too vicious for a practicing session.

By the end of the day, all of us had perfected our ward spells, and as we were leaving for the hall of Attainment, Brelyna said "I wonder where is this field trip's destination." Onmund said "oh, surely nowhere. Its probably just one of the doomstones. I can't think of Todflir bringing us to anywhere actually exciting."

We all agreed. Oh, if only we knew how wrong we were.

* * *

Next day, we were in the courtyard, in front of the statue of Shalidor, before dawn. Of course I had to wait for a few minutes that Onmund took to wake J'zargo up without any dangerous reactions from him, and Brelyna took her sweet time picking up her favorite staff, but I didn't have that types of problems, all I had to pick was my sack of potions, and a book on ancient Nordic language.

Half an hour later, the other three joined me, and right before the sun's dawn, Todflir showed up, looking a bit disheveled but otherwise fine.

He said "are you all packed?"

I said "yes, sir. We are. But-" "good. Take one of these."

He handed every one of us a small iron dagger, but J'zargo didn't take it, unleashing his claws instead.

Todflir said "extra protection. You never know when you run out of magicka. Never leave college without one."

Brelyna said "Sir, where are we going?"

He replied, "as you might know, the college has been performing an ongoing excavation of the ruins in Saarthal. We're taking a field trip to Saarthal today."

J'zargo and Brelyna lightened up, beeming with happiness over _finally_ doing something. Onmund didn't look that happy. After a few seconds of confusion, I remembered and almost got ashamed of my giddiness.

Brelyna said "what, are you not happy, Onmund?"

He said "we're going to an ancient city of my people, and probably dishonor them by searching for wards. Of course I'm not happy!"

Brelyna didn't get that, "we're just going to some ruin, Onmund!" "that _ruin_ , is the resting place of an **entire** city of my people, Brelyna." "so, they're just a bunch of _nords_ , who cares about them?"

As she said that, her eyes widened, hearing her own voice. Unfortunately it was too late: "Oh, sorry Onmund. I didn't mean it like-"

But onmund didn't forgive her like that. "I care about those bunch of nords! They're my people! How would _you_ feel if I just went over to Mournhold and search for what Dunmer wore before the Oblivion Crisis?"

This argument went on for a while, one of the two was a nord, built for the cold weather of Skyrim, and the other, while not from around, _did_ live nearby. When we finally reached Saarthal, the two were still arguing. "I _said_ I was sorry! Will you forget that?" "NO I won't. it's bad enough that my first field trip in college is in a _Nordic_ ruin, but for it to be the place _night of tears_ happened? Sorry, I'm not letting you insulting my entire race go just like that!"

That was when Todflir spoke up. "Both of you. stop this squabble at once!"

The two shut up at once.

He continued "what we're about to face down there is an _unfinished_ excavation site of a place no one has been for almost four eras. You should be able to concentrate. This squabble can resume in the College again, but right now, you four are a team!"

The four of us looked at him in attention. "I've lost _forty three_ apprentices for accidents that happen because of such things. I do _not_ want that list to go up to _forty seven_.

"now lets head inside."

Once inside, Todflir assigned us various tasks. He asked me to go to Arniel Gane, who was searching for ancient items a bit deeper inside the ruins.

This seemed to be a simple task, as he was basically around the corner, as I approached, he looked up from his work to examine me.

"who're you?" he said, "what're you doing here?"

I said "I'm part of the new apprentices, here for a field trip. Todflir asked me to seek you"

He said, "oh, you're one of the apprentices? Huh. Haven't seen you around"

Well, that was mostly because he'd stayed in the Arcanaeum most of the days, his practice time was my opposite, and he had left for Saarthal (officially a College errand) a month ago. He couldn't have seen me a lot.

He said "alright. I've got something for you to do. Look around for magical items. Enchanted stuff, ancient tomes, anything!"

I said "I'll do that."

Two or more minutes later, I had found three rings in different rooms, all of them with an enchantment of magicka enhancement. But in the fourth room, there was an amulet.

 _Huh_

An amulet in a stand on a wall. curse my curiousity, for I picked it up.

The moment I did that, I heard the sound of metal bars falling.

Suddenly turning around, I saw that I was trapped.

 _A thousand curses!_

I called "Arniel? Brelyna? Onmund? _Anyone?_ Please Help!"

Soon enough, Arniel arrived, looking at me in amusement, "wow, you've actually managed to _trap_ yourself? Alright, I'm bringing Todflir here. look around, see if you can find any kind of lever, there's normally some kind of a lever around that unlocks these gates."

As he left, I looked around. There was _nothing_ inside.

Only me, and a room without any other door.

I cursed. And then threw the amulet down, leaning against the wall and sitting down next to it.

A few minutes later, Todflir showed up. "Oh dear" he said, his face bright with amusement. "how are we going to get you out of _there?_ "

I looked at him, he said "what did you even do? These gates won't just fall by themselves!"

I said "I just pulled this amulet off the wall. it looked like something worth examining"

He sighed, "you did nothing wrong, m'boy. just do wait up, we'll get you out somehow"

I looked up and around, and after a second, it was obvious. They weren't getting me out _somehow._ The only way was to destroy the room, and who knew what would happen.

Oh gods, I would probably die in there. Starve, or something.

Then, I looked at the amulet. I'd locked myself by pulling it out. Maybe by wearing it…

I donned the amulet, and my vision dimmed for a second, and then, near the amulet's stand, a wall looked a bit off.

The wall was resonating with energy, surrounded by blue aura…

 _Well, there's no other ideas_ , I summoned the aura of Fire and casted a firebolt at the wall. the wall immediately crumbled away, revealing a passageway behind. Just like I had been trapped, the gate before me rose again, and the other four got inside.

Brelyna said "that was _some_ strong fire magic there. How did you do that?"

J'zargo said "J'zargo Envies you. you found a magical amulet to enhance your magic?"

I sighed, "what have you found? A hidden passage? How strange. I think the two of us should investigate further. Let us go!" said Master Todlfir

I said "sir, with all due respect, the four of us were here for a field trip. It doesn't seem fair for me to go there without them, if I opened the passway just by luck"

"as you wish. Thread with caution"

The five of us moved into a small cincular room ringed with sarcophagi.

As soon as all four of us went inside, Onmund said "I have a bad feeling about this-"

Todflir said "interesting, it appears that-" as soon as I turned to ask _what_ seemed interesting, I saw them

All of them were frozen on spot, even the dust in the air had frozen in midair. A bluish tint was in the air, and then, I heard a strange _whiiiizzz_ sound, the sound of someone teleporting in.

I turned to see an elf in monk robes appear in the room out of thin air. he looked at me, and by gods was he annoyed.

"Hold, Mage, and listen well!" He said "know that you have set in motion a chain of events that cannot be stopped! Judgement has not been passed, as you had no way of knowing! Judgement _will_ be passed on your actions to come, and how you deal with the dangers ahead of you. this warning is passed to you because the Psijjic order believes in you. you, mage, and you alone, have the potential to prevent disaster. Take great care, and know that the order is watching!"

And with that happy note, he left just like he had arrived.

As soon as the monk left, everything returned to normal, without anyone knowing better. Anyone but Todflir.

"something feels very strange…" he said, "Hold on, how'd you get over there? You were standing next to me a moment ago-"

That was when I told everyone what'd happened, the hooded monk who said he was from a Psijjic order.

"What?" he said, "but that doesn't make any sense! The Psijjic order was founded after they destroyed this place, and has no known connection to the Draugr of Skyrim. Why would one ever appear here?"

Onmund said "okay, i'm going to give it a shot and say you _all_ know about Psijjic order?" three of us shook their heads, and Todflir said "it's an order of Monks that no one has seen for a very long time. No one has known, or seen, the location of their base island"

"so you're saying, an _Altmer_ order of Mages located in a place not known to anyone has decided to meddle in the affairs of our college? Why now?"

"I have never claimed to know the ways of Monks."

"but if they can stop time, even for a few minutes at a time, that means they're _really_ powerful magi. Why are they here?" I asked, and he answered "I do not know, but its no use crying over spilt potion. We'd better continue with what we were doing. There must be a way through this ruin. Perhaps behind one of these sarcophagi?"

As it turns out, there was something in the ruin that didn't like Todflir's suggestion. And they showed their disapproval quite violently.

One by one, the Sarcophagi fell, and skeletons walked out of their resting places. Most had old looking swords, and one had a great-sword. The closest one snarled " _Alduin Dilon_!"

Brelyna cursed "by Azura's moon and stars, what _is_ that thing?"

Onmund snarled " _that thing_ , is the reason you never delve into a Nordic ruin. The undead form of ancient Atmorans. We call them Draugr!"

Of course, even though they were ancient Nordic heroes, and probably many of the people who'd died in the night of tears, we didn't have the chance to show sorrow for them.

Todflir casted an alteration spell on himself, letting a green aura surround him, _of course he doesn't teach us that!_ , and said "don't give them a chance!"

The fight was over as soon as he said that. Mage-fire and frost destroyed the draugr before they had a chance to attack us.

When the last of the Draugr had fallen, on one of the Sarcophagi we found a passageway.

Beyond that one, we reached a bigger circular room, this one with even more Draugr awaiting us.

Of course even those had no chance, for the four of us were more than ready for the undead

Of course, that day, I learned a lot of things about practical usage of Magic, but the fact that they had sent four apprentices with basically no experience into a ruin _full_ of draugr was something I never learned the reason for.

Maybe it was destiny, as the Psyjjic monks always like to say. Maybe it was just College's ineptitude in tending to its apprentices, maybe it just the occasional bored Daedric lord, intent on playing some of us mortals. But it was just so that _we_ had to be there when everything finally changed.

After defeating the next batch of Draugr (most of which were, again, warriors) Todflir separated us into two groups. He, J'zargo and Arniel (an adept in alteration who was obsessed with the Dwemer) took off, after Todlfir commanded the rest of us "be careful, and take notes about _everything_. No matter how insignificant you think it is"

In the way, I was thanking Akotash, Shor, the Hist, and pretty much every Aedra and Daedra I could think of that the draugr didn't have fresh armor or weaponry.

Which later hit me in the head, when we finally saw the blasted Eye.

It wasn't really an eye, you see. A big sphere with ancient runes carved onto it. it was rotating in the middle of the hall of the Honored dead. And beneath it was a single draugr.

I pointed at him, "wait. That is it?"

Onmund turned towards me, "what is it?" "that one is the only thing buried in this chamber?"

He rubbed the back of his neck, "well. If he has a Wall honored to him, I'm pretty sure whoever that draugr is, he must've been someone important"

Which was when Todflir showed up again. "actually, Onmund, that man is not _honored_. He's bound there."

Unfortunately, the draugr decided to wake up just then.

"Look out!" Shouted Brelyna, throwing herself against me and Onmund. _What's she doing_ I thought, before I heard the sound of a Ward absorbing a spell. With her strike, she had enough power to knock us out of the way of a murderously sharp Ice Spear the Draugr had just threw towards us. Todflir noticed it just as we did. "Hit it!" he shouted, "Direct all your magicka toward it!"

Which is not as easy as it sounds when you have fallen on the floor, and aren't on your feet. I attempted to direct my Magicka into a bolt of lightning, but before I could shoot the Bolt off, the Draugr decided to go on a frostbite-frenzy. I grit my teeth to bite the cold and pain, my muscles contracting and cramping. Just then, the Draugr opened its skeletal mouth and shouted something. Out of its mouth came a wave of blue magicka, which knocked J'zargo off his feet, and propelled him several metres back, smacking the Khajiit into the stone wall behind him.

Brelyna and Onmund, unlike the two of us, _did_ get their spells off. Two bolts of Lightning hit the thing in the chest, but the Draugr didn't even flinch.

I tried to channel my magicka once again, this time cursing our sense of Adventure. _What were we thinking? I can't even channel my own magicka!_ This time, I managed to do it. a bolt of fire shot from the palm of my left hand, and hit the Draugr.

It failed, again, but this time, I saw the Sphere on the pedestal flash blue.

"The ORB!" I yelled. "it's somehow powering it!"

Todflir wasted no time, and used Telekinesis, a rather _expert_ spell in alteration school, to haul a large chuck of stone towards the Sphere. At the same time, both _it_ and the Draugr flashed green. "Hit him with _everything_ you've got!"

Then, I forgot all my training on apprentice spells, and summoned the aura of Flame in both my hands. Channeling my pool of magicka into flames, I began burning the draugr. Apparently, Onmund and J'zargo had thought the same, and now, six jets of flames were burning the Draugr, making it step back slowly, and crying in pain.

On the level above us, Brelyna threw a Spike of Ice towards the monster's head.

Within minutes, the draugr had burned to ashes, with a note and an amulet the only things that were _not_ burned.

The note, the thing _I_ picked up, was full of gibberish. Something like the claw markings of a cat on a piece of paper.

Onmund chuckled as he saw the note. "old nord. _Claw marks_ to be exact." I rolled my eyes, "What does it say?"

"well, it says _KOS GRO HET! JYRIC KUL DO GAUDLER, KRID, LOTHUR. AAL HIN KOS DUR WAH ROVAAN HET FAH PAH UL._ Something about some betrayer being trapped here, I think. Who's Jyric?"

Todflir said "well, I don't know about Jyric, but Gaulder was one of the old Arch Mages of the College. Maybe this calls for further research on the story-" "Master Todflir, what's that?" pointed Brelyna to the wall.

The Wall was polished to a flat surface, and etched with all kinds of markings, always in groups of two or three. Something _really_ similar to the claw marks on the note.

One group had threads of magicka contained in it, but without even trying, I could see I wasn't ready for such magic. It probably wouldn't work on me anyway.

Todflir had probably thought the same. "This, Onmund,is something we'll never understand, or be able to use. It's an ancient power, and it awaits someone else"

Onmund said "huh"

But I wasn't that easily convinced, "actually, I'm going to write it. whoever needs to see that isn't going to be here anytime soon, and I suspect they _are_ going to be in the college. Sooner or later."

And began scribing the carvings into a piece of paper. A good mage never leaves home without a few empty scrolls.

In the end, with a little help from Onmund, I managed to write both the carvings, and their translation (into ancient Nordic. Something told me, this mystery person wasn't going to need it translated into the common tongue)

 _NONVUL BRON, DAHMAAN DAAR ROK DO FIN FODIIZ BORMAH- ORIN PRUZAAN DWIIN AAL KREH AHRZ KREN. NUZ_ _ **SLEN**_ _DO VAHZAAH MUZ LOS SINDUGAHVON_.

At this point, Todflir was completely on the Orb. Without taking his eyes from it, with a piece of paper at his disposal, as he wrote into his journal. The four of us were to return to the Arch-mage.

There was something he'd want to know about this.

* * *

Five hours later, we were at the Arch-mage's quarters, inside the hall of the Elements.

He looked at the four of us, and grimaced at our states.

"don't tell me. Another apprentice was killed in a collapse?"

Brelyna gasped, Onmund and J'zargo winced, and _I_ said, "not that _I_ know of. Todflir sent us here. He's found something in Saarthal. An orb, full of magicka. I think the college might want to see this"

The Arch-mage, an old Dunmer in grey wool robes, said "well, this needs to be investigated. I'll travel to Saarthal immediately. Tell the staff enchanter in the Arcaeneum to make you four new staffs. Consider it as a reward, of a sort. You might need to go to Urag for some more research, of course. Ask him for any information you can find about this _artefact._ Now, do hurry"

Which was exactly what we did. An hour later, and armed with new staffs, the four of us were in front of the Orc librarian, waiting for him to return from searching in the restricted section of the library.

* * *

 **End of C2**

 **A.N: there goes the third chapter**

 **Notes: the First weird part can be translated into "BE BOUND HERE, JYRIC SON OF GAULDER. KILLER, DECIEVER. MAY YOU BE CURSED TO ROAM HERE FOR ALL ETERNITY", which is the Writ of Sealing.**

 **The second part is the Slen word in ice form, and can be translated into "NOBLE NORD, REMEMBER THESE WORDS OF HOAR FATHER-EVEN THE BEST STEEL MAY BEND AND BREAK, BUT THE** FLESH **OF A TRUE MAN IS UNYIELDING"**

 **As you can see, I decided to change a few things. For instance, you aren't going to read** _ **ancient**_ **notes in common Tongue (English).**

 **Davoid, signing off**


	5. Hitting the Books

Mages of Winterhold

Chapter Four: Hitting the Books

* * *

Urag was back, with a few books in his hands. "well, that's all I've got. You can get to your reading now"

I picked one of the four, ' _Catalogue of Ancient Artefacts_ ', a book about the artefacts that ancient deities had decided to scatter around nirn.

I began reading. _Auriel_ 'auri-el's bow, known to look like a standard issued elven bow. The deadly bow of the dragon-god is fatal to all forms of undead, and all races of man. At least one version of this bow was known to be wielded by the Nerevarine'

 _Boethia_ 'The Ebony mail, almost unlike any other armor known to mortals, is known to be poisonous to anyone that its owner wants dead. At least one version of this armor was found in Valenwood, Elsweyr and Skyrim. –NOTE: there are rumors about the existence of a cult of Boethia worshipers in Skyrim. Not recommended for research-'

I cursed. Every single artefact known to mages, and a few that I hadn't heard of, were listed inside. With drawings and description for all of them.

I read through the book: 'Umbra', 'Oghma Infinimum'…'Hjalti's lucky Coin'…'Necromancer's Amulet'…

There was no sign of any sphere or orb. I head searched the book back to back. There were artefacts like 'Lokhan's Heart' and 'Wuuthraad' (even though one had been destroyed and the other was in pieces, right inside Jorvaskr') but no orb.

I said "Nothing! There's Nothing in there!" I paused, Onmund said without turning his head from his book "ask Urag then"

The Orc raised an eyebrow, "not there? Well, let's think about this differently. You say this 'Orb' of yours was found in Saarthal, right?" I nodded, "well, maybe we should search about Saarthal instead"

Then, he swore "damn it, the book's not here!"

I asked "do you know where it is?"

That was when Urag rubbed the back of his neck. The sheepish expression on the Orc's face was really amusing to watch, but his growl as he saw me made me look serious again, "actually, that's a bit of an embarrassment. we think an apprentice stole it"

"an apprentice _stole_ a book from your Arcanaeum?" "it was just about the time you guys left for Saarthal. A group of mages were here for a lecture on Destruction magic. The next day, an Alteration Adept went missing, and so did three or four books"

"so, when will the books _be_ back?" "if you _want_ them, you'll have to find them yourself. Arch-mage's forbid _me_ of searching for them myself. Not enough resources, you know. And none of the Adepts are willing to go after that bands. Milk drinkers, the lot of 'em!" he spat.

I sighed, "Urag, I'm an apprentice wizard, not an errand boy"

Urag smirked nastily, "you're _also_ a mage. If you _want_ something done, you do it yourself. Of course, you _can_ wait two weeks for the annual Synod bootlicker to come here, with a lot of books and artefacts to bribe us so we would join them, but I'm not sure those books can be replaced."

 _So much for the obsessive librarian_. "alright. where are these mages you talked about?"

"Fellglow keep. An old fort in Whiterun Hold. Just take the college carriage to Valtheim towers. You can't miss it. here, let me mark it on your map"

* * *

The carriage trip to Valtheim towers went by without any problems. The Driver stopped at Riften for a few hours in the middle of the trip.

The walk to the old keep was, also, without any problem.

I was so bored by the end of it that I'd read all the _theory_ parts from the _Tome on an Oaken Flesh_ ', the novice level mage armor. I had even casted it once.

When I reached the fort, I knew I was in trouble. The two guards were patrolling the grounds, and a flame atronach was guarding on the walls.

Another thing was the fact that the guards were armed with a spell with purple aura.

 _it is a spell that comes as a side effect of_ _Sanguinaire Vampiris,_ _and is activated as a born ability, after the disease has its complete effect. Do you want to be a Vampire_? I remembered Faralda's warning the first time she'd talked about leach spells.

 _VAMPIRES!_

I cursed silently, sweating as I was considering the option of just leaving, when someone said "you a Dawnguard?"

I jumped slightly, and turned.

In front of me was a fellow elf, one that looked like nothing I'd ever seen. He wore a yet-and-yellow armor made of leather, light-black boots and a pair of grey gloves with _Talons_ coming out of them. A black curved sword hung from his side, and a strange looking wooden bow was on his back.

The Altmer had a long red hair, and a strangely-nordic looking beard. His greyer-than-usual skin, silky voice, and molten yellow eyes were what gave him away.

He was also a vampire.

The vampire laughed, "huh. Got my answer. Just an apprentice wizard? What're you doing here?"

I panicked on the inside, jumped back, and summoned the aura of flame. "Don't come closer!" I said, "I-I will burn you!"

He laughed, "relax. I'm not here to drain you. _Them_ on the other hand," he pointed at the two vampires, "them I have no problem with draining. What do _you_ want here?"

I stuttered "I'm here on college business. Here to take back some books the mages in the fort have stolen"

"Well, _I_ am here to find a ring in this fort. The owner has it, I want it. so, let's do something. We party together, we clear the fort. You can take your books, and I'll get my ring. What say you?"

Something told me this wasn't up to my choice, and besides, if he _could_ handle himself, all the better for me.

"alright. let's do this"

* * *

The vampire did most of the work. Unleashing two turrets of drain life upon his enemies. I simply went after the atronach, since the vampire probably couldn't. I released two spikes of ice on the fire daedra, and then began casting frostbite from both my hand.

The atronach's life force ended, and with that, stopped levitating and sunk into the ground.

And exploded in a storm of fire.

The vampire panted, and then said "by the Gods, I _hate_ fire!"

As it happened, the fort dungeons were the only way in. we entered the dungeons, a ruined and damaged cave, that had signs of being part of a fort as well.

As we were walking, the vampire said "you know what? Screw stealth! Let's talk. What's you name?"

"I'm Valerius Magnus. I'm an apprentice wizard in the College of Winterhold. I was, as I said, sent here to retrieve a few books that were stolen from us"

"I'm N _aga_. Got here to loot a ring of power rumored to be inside the fort's loot chest. Well, let's see if this fort proves-" he paused.

Three mages were in the first hall, one of them yelled "INTRUDERS!"

The two other quickly rose from their seats. One summoned the aura of flame, and the other picked up a staff.

"-challenging" sighed Naga the vampire. he quickly grew his ebony sword and said "pick a target!" before charging towards the nearest mage, a breton in blue robes.

I summoned the aura of frost and unleashed a jet of frostbite that bet the turret of flame the first mage was casting. With my other hadn't, I threw three consecutive bolts of lightning, killing the second enemy, before putting all my attention to the first mage.

The lines of frost and flame were not moving, none of us had the upper hand in magickal strength. I put out my frost magic, and tried casting a firebolt from my hands, who was still unleashing his turret of flame on the place I stood a mere second ago. But nothing came out of my hand. _I'd run out of magicka!_

It took me a moment to realize my enemy hadn't. I curse, and jumped away from his ice spikes, and covered behind the over-thrown table. It wouldn't be a good cover against fire or frost, but I could rest for a second behind it.

My opponent was stronger than me, but he wasn't stronger that a vampire with an ebony sword. As my magicka was regenerating, I heard the brief gasp of pain, and Naga said "so, are you done?"

Which was exactly when a muffled voice said "listen buddy, you'd better not be thirsty. You're not getting out of here until the next shift"

Naga assumed a fighting stance. I quickly summoned the aura of shock again and followed the immortal. A bored voice replied "as you've told me a hundred times before. Do not tempt me, mortal. You never know-"

Naga cursed, "they're holding the vampires _hostage_?" he summoned the aura of leach in his off-hand, "they're going to _die_ "

Breaking the door, he quickly jumped inside. A dark elf in blue armor turned quickly. Behind him, in cells shackled to the ceiling, were six men and mer with eyes like naga. He was right, they _were_ holding the mistwalkers hostage.

Naga growled " _fear_ the powers of the night!" and raised his hand. A jet of light hit his enemy, the mage began crying in pain. At first, I didn't understand why, but in the end, I could. His body was again. His skin wilt and decayed. The light of life left his eyes as his life force was drained by the vampire.

 _This_ was the leach variety spell Faralda was talking about. This was how vampires stayed young forever.

It was…unsettling, but I was a mage, and as a mage, I have to look at all magic without the standards of morality.

When the mortal died, Naga spat on his corpse, and pulled down the lever on the wall near the next door.

Six vampires walked out of their cell, and said "We thank you, mistwalker"

But instead of leaving the way we'd entered, they opened the door.

One of them inhaled deeply, "Aaaaaah! Free at last!" he drew his fangs, "I _THRIST_ for fresh blood!"

Before I had time to summon any defensive magic, he slammed through the door, and snarled " _DIE, mortal_!"

* * *

I summoned the aura of flame and went to follow them, but Naga grabbed my arm, stopping me.

"wait"

I stopped, and he explained "the vampires will distract the mages. We'll attack when it's safer"

He was right, three minutes later the sounds of conflict finally ended, and a mage said "damn these mistwalkers. Molag knows we've already lost a lot of our research!"

Naga said "I have to point that on a normal fight, the vampires would've won." As we entered the hallway, and I made short work of the last mage standing with two ice spikes.

The next room also had a mage and a prisoner. This one wasn't a vampire. he was a human in the yellow robes of an adept mage. Maybe _this_ was the mage Urag was talking about?

The Mage in blue robes turned quickly as he saw us. A vampire and a normal mage, both aiming highly lethal spells at him.

Naga brought a finger to his lips, tamriel-wide known expression for _don't speak_. I said quietly "put off your fire"

The dark elf sighed, and banished the magic aura in his hand. Then, I said "release the prisoner. Right now"

He quickly pulled the lever, and the Mage in the cell walked out of it with a sigh of relief.

Then, I said "walk to the cell." He walked inside, and the freed mage released the lever again, imprisoning the poor mage.

I said "if you don't talk, you _might_ survive this. If you don't, you'll meet the fate of all the other mages we've faced till now"

The mage said "don't worry. I'll just sit right there. Maybe Caller will release me when she's done with you"

The vampire said "yeah yeah. Or _maybe_ I'll release you when _I'm_ done with your so-called 'caller'" barring his fangs at the mage, who began shaking in fear.

The released adept said "oh, thank _gods_ you released me. Did the _college_ send you?"

Well, the true answer would be ' _no, the college didn't care about you. I'm here for the books_ ', but I'm pretty sure I would feel pretty terrible if someone said that to _me_. I couldn't do that. "yes, I'm here for you"

He sighed in relief, "oh thank gods! Now come on! There are a few books we must retrieve"

 _Well, what do_ you _know, Urag was wrong after all._

"what do you mean?" I said, thankfully, Naga didn't say anything.

The Nord mage replied "I was going to infiltrate the coven of Fellglow keep. I had to …borrow a few books I knew they would like, to get in good graces with them. They said I could help in their research." He said bitterly, "didn't know they meant I could help as a research material."

Then he said "the books are with _Caller_. She's the one these people work for. Nasty woman, necromancer, Deadra summoner, everything you can think of, she's done. I have a _bone_ to pick with him" he said, before summoning a bound sword. Another novice conjuration spell I didn't really know how to cast. I _really_ had to pick up reading tomes.

[linebreak]

It took us another two hours, and five brutally executions (courtesy of Naga) to get to the caller.

Right before we could enter, Naga said "okay. That's as far as I'm coming with you. The ring, and its owner, are on the upper levels. Good luck" and left, opening the door on the left and climbing the stairs.

So, we opened the door and walked inside.

The caller was standing in the centre of a big ritual chamber. On three pedestals around the room were the books.

Orthorn said "there she is!"

He fell quiet when he saw the master mage inside the room. Her hood was down, and all we could see was a pale, narrow face drawn with the lines of middle ages. She'd smeared some kind of Nordic war-paint over her eyes, making her look even more sinister. "so, you've returned. With a guest" she said

I tried not to start the fight. "look, we're just here for the books. Give them to us, and no one will get hurt" well, _we_ wouldn't get hurt, actually.

The caller wasn't really buying that, though. "tell that to my mages you just killed. What do you think would happen when you got here?" I sighed, this caller was at least an adept mage. I was nothing more than an apprentice. If she started to fight, I was more than likely to die. "we're not looking for a fight. All we want are the college books"

"not looking for a fight?" said the altmer with a smirk on her face, "weaklings always say they aren't looking for a fight. If you _knew_ how to cast those spells you have on your hands, though, we wouldn't be having this conversation"

Well. She was right. one of us was a _nord_ , and the other had just burnt three mages alive with one spell. I'm pretty sure if we _could_ , we'd just run in, hands a-blazing, and kill her, before picking the books. Fortunately, the books had a hefty magic-resistance enchantment on them. This was about to get messy.

"you're not leaving with those books. If you turn around, though, you _can_ leave with your lives" "look. We _can't_ leave without the books. There is an important research going on. I _have_ to get those books back"

She shook her head, "so, your _research_ is worth more than your lives? You are true mages, it seems. But you leave me no choice." "well, I can offer you one." I tried for one more time. "the college knows I'm here." Actually, they don't. and from what I've seen, I will just be another dead apprentice, but she doesn't need to know that. "they'll come looking for me, and they won't send apprentices this time"

She threw her head back and laughed, "you think I'm scared of _Mirabelle_? Or maybe you think _Faralda_ will make me pay?" she smirked, "let them come. I'll deal with them when they arrive."

Orthorn muttered, "I don't think I like where it's going-" but the Caller raised her hands and with a spell, opened two portals to oblivion. _Maybe it's just familiars?_ And out of those came two creatures made entirely of ice.

"Frost Atronachs" breathed Orthorn, creeping backward, "they resist ice and shock. If they attack, we have to go"

I wasn't going to go. If there's one thing I know about how Conjuration works, its that the daedra are bound to their summoner. If she can't handle controlling them, they return to whence they came.

"hit the caller with all you've got. Doesn't matter if you run out of magicka all-together" I muttered under my breath, so that only Orthorn could hear it, then said loudly, "if that's what you wish"

Then, I summoned the strongest shock spell I knew (which wasn't really that strong, if you want the truth), casted it with my both hands.

Normally, there would be two bolts of Lightning striking out of my hands, but I wasn't doing that.

I remembered all I'd read in the spare Destruction book Mirabelle had given me all those days ago, and instead of using my palms as the Magickal joints in my body, I had bound the two joints together.

With both my hands, I summoned the Lightning bolt, and as a large orb of lightning formed between my two hands, I threw it towards the Caller with all the strength I could manage.

The spell hit her the same time Orthorn's did. It shocked the caller, and threw her off the altar she was standing on. But Orthorn's spell was a bit stronger. A bolt of Thunder moved out of his hand and hit her head.

The air crackled and the smell of ozone blasted into my nostrils. The light so hard it came through my eyelids, colored red. The caller was spasming and jerking as crackling threads of electricity jumped across her body. When her muscles stopped twitching, another bolt of Thunder hit her, this one even more powerful than first.

I briefly saw a wisp of lightning come out of her open mouth. The energy expended, and she fell to the ground, trails of smoke rising from her body.

I got to my feet, and saw Orthorn standing. "done and done" his hands still extended. "that, my friend, was an _expert level_ destruction spell. One I'd read in a tome a few days before I got here. I was _itching_ to try it on someone."

Taking a step towards the caller, I was thankful I wasn't the target to that spell. The Atlmer wasn't doing anything more than just breathing. And what the Thunderbolt had done to the altmer almost made me feel pity. The skin on her face was heavily burned, bright red in some places, Charred black in the place the spell had hit her. The smoke from her body was stinking so bad it made my stomach heave. "not bad for my first try. She's not dead yet, though"

He asked me, "should I kill her? It would definitely be a mercy"

But I was tired of her shit. "no. let her live. I'm pretty sure she can't do us any more harm". In other words, death was a mercy i wasn't going to give.

He picked the key from the woman's body, hissing in pain as he touched the metal, and said "well. That's it, then. Pick up the books and let us get this over with."

* * *

Two days later, we were finally back in the college. Orthorn had simply said "I'll have to…uh…report to the Arch-mage. Before anyone else sees me. With me luck" as we had entered the hall of elements, and left.

I walked to the Arcanaeum, and handed Urag the three books. He hummed, "oh. You're back. I trust there was no problem?"

 _Orthorn is using Expert destruction spells on anyone he doesn't like. I had to team up with a vampire. I rescued six vampires, only to see them die by the hand of the mages. I imprisoned a mage into a cell with no food and left him starve, presumably to death._ "no. there were no problem. Nothing a little talking couldn't solve anyway"

He said "yes. I'm sure you're right. now…the books" he began looking at the titles, "AH! Hear it is! _Night of Tears_. Not really neutral in the writing, but still has a lot of information"

And sure it had. He said "I reckon this Orb you've found is what 'the nords sealed away' when they returned to Skyrim. Thank you anyway. You've done the college a great service. Here, there are _some_ books you might need for your studies."

And handed me a handful of books. Which is to say a _catalogue_ on enchantments, the method of spell making for normal houses, and a book about 'Absorbing wards'.

Well, I had some reading to do.

* * *

 **A.N: well, another chapter is here.**

 **one thing, as you can see i changed Orthorn's Race from Altmer to Nord. my reasoning for this change was that i felt the name _Orthorn_ was too nordic a name for an elf (as opposed to _Elenwen,_ or _Ondolemar_ , or _Faralda_ or _Mannimarco_ ), and therefore he's a nord in my universe.**

 **I will only mention that** _ **naga**_ **the vampire is not actually Eradil. He's someone else entirely.**

 **Until I can finally finish the next chapter of** _ **Nightwalkers**_ **(or type the next chapter of this story),**

 **Davoid, signing off.**


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